The Gambit
by luxeterna
Summary: Tempers flare and tension rises when Light returns home to find his life under the complete control of L. The two rivals are just starting to get comfortable with one another when they become embroiled in international espionage.
1. Chapter 1: Dinner at the White House

The American President had been officially in office all of two minutes and twenty-eight seconds when he had his first encounter of the fifth kind. Although his candidacy and subsequent, albeit still young presidency had already been marked with considerable historical significance, the American President couldn't help but think this was some kind of unusual and unwelcome record.

Looking down at his engraved Rolex, a Christmas present from his benevolent and graceful wife, he saw that his presidency was now all of forty-six minutes old. Not even an hour had passed and already the CIA director was sitting in front of him with a grey suit and a long face. In the background secret service agents, no longer concealed and calm skirted around like nervous worker bees, while somewhere nearby a monitor blared the live broadcast of CNN.

_"Chaos reigns at the inauguration in DC today as a yet unmarked and unknown assailant attempted to assassinate the President mere minutes after his swearing in."_ A flushed blonde reporter motioned towards a crowd, as the camera shaking in the obvious tumult surrounding her._ "Witnesses swear they saw another, unknown man- apparently with enormous feathered wings, seemingly dive out of the sky and tackle the would-be assassin to the ground. Witnesses also claim they heard that man whisper something to the assailant before seemingly shattering the alleged terrorist's spine. Although the White House has yet to release any statement regarding the incident, experts suspect Valkyrie involvement today on behalf of the President. However, so little is known of this organization and its relationship to the current administration, all we can do as of now is speculate. Sources say the President is completely safe and heading to a secure location within the White House to meet with high-ranking members of Security and the intelligence community." _

With a neat flick of his hand, the director of the CIA snapped off the monitor and turned back to the President. His face was as nondescript and memorable as a paper napkin but it looked as if it were poured in concrete today. "I understand that you are very new to this office, Mr. President," The director started, his voice deceivingly measured, "and therefore new to the security clearance that allows, or rather, demands your knowledge of sensitive information. However, it is crucial that you tell me at this point how much you know about the Valkyrie."

The American President considered this. "Very little," He admitted. "Most of what I know I am ashamed to say I learned in books about urban legends and mythology. I know the organization is considered a threat at some level, but I have never heard of any activity linked to them. When I was a kid people used the say the Valkyrie were devil worshipers or people who conjured demons. Ridiculous wives tales like that..."

The CIA director nodded, but his expression neither confirmed nor denied the validity of what the new President had said. He motioned over to a rather disheveled young man who was fast approaching the two of them, juggling a great deal of papers with little success. "This is Touta Matsuda, from The Meiji University in Tokyo and now George Washington University here in DC. He is the closest thing we have to a Valkyrie expert." The director raised on greying eyebrow at the youth, who bowed clumsily to the President. "He will brief you on what we know. And for Pete's sake, Matsuda, keep this short."

"Mr. President," the young scholar started out, stammering hurriedly, "The first thing you should know about the Valkyrie is they do not consider themselves an organization- they consider themselves a species. The Japanese have the oldest confirmed records of the existence of the Valkyrie. According to Japanese legend, the Valkyrie was created when a group of abandoned orphan children in ancient times formed a bond with a race of Japanese death gods known as Shinigami. It is said the Shinigami took pity on the children and sacrificed themselves in order to give the group preternatural powers and abilities. From then on the orphans and their descendants have considered themselves to be non-human entities, and therefore loyal to no nation but their own race. They answer to no government or jurisdiction and rarely intervene in human politics."

The American President took in the information quickly and rationally, "Are they a threat to us?"

Matsuda flushed, "We don't know, Mr. President. The Valkyrie recognize one known only to the intelligence community as 'Elle' as their leader. As far as we know the whole of the species is loyal to him, but except for aiding the CIA in certain criminal investigations from afar, he has remained elusive."

Here the CIA director interrupted stiffly, "The relationship between the United States and the Valkyrie broke down during the presidency of your predecessor. Elle did not think the then President was being economical with soldiers and resources in the wars. Communication was cut off and we haven't so much as seen one of them until today."

The current American President blinked, "You think the man who stopped the assassin today was one of these... creatures?"

Matsuda's eyes, already rather large and blood-shot widened even further in excitement. "Oh we don't 'think', Mr. President- we're certain of it!"

The CIA director stood, his face as grave as a gargoyle's. "Mr. President, we are about to escort you to the oval office," He paused a mere half a second before continuing, "Where Elle and some of his agents are waiting to meet with you."

After the last hour, the American President no longer knew what to expect, but he had certainly not expected this. The CIA director and Matsuda ushered him into the vast expanse of the oval office quickly but both men were moving with what the President could only deduce as extreme caution. The round room was somewhat dim when he entered, with only one floor lamp shedding an apologetically insufficient amount of light across the historical setting. In the shadows, the President could just make out four or five figures hovering just out of focus. The eldest and most discernible of these was a tidy gentleman with a brief white mustache who appeared to be detaining a young man. Up until now, the President had not really been able to properly digest what the Valkyrie were or imagine how they might look, but scrutinizing the youth now he realized there was something completely exotic and inhuman about him. He had an angular frame, clearly muscular, even in the grasp of the old man, and eyes lidded with lashes as heavy as any girl's. But burning through them had been a kind of hard, livid hunger the President had never experienced in any person, soldier or politician, before. They were feral eyes, like those of a starving wild dog. He was an extremely attractive youngster by any standard, but there was something unsightly about the way young man's red mouth curled back like the petals of a poisonous flower, daring the three humans to come further.

Matsuda opened his mouth tentatively, motioning timidly to the young man, "This is the one we know as Lux. He is the one who prevented your assassination today, Mr. President."

The President did his best to smile in presidential gratitude at the young man, but his gaze was not met. Instead, Lux appeared to be glaring underhandedly at the venerable old presidential desk. Crouching on the great mahogany surface was an oddly striking figure nibbling at what the President recognized as a cookie from the White House's internal bakery. The figure also appeared to be a young man, but the President found he could not put a definite age on him. His thin body had a certain listlessness about it, as if he was one of the fabled specters of DC rather than flesh and blood, but his large dark eyes zeroed in upon the American leader like lasers.

"I would congratulate you, Mr. President, but to be honest I'm really quite irritated with you at the moment, and there are several more pressing matters to address." The figure's melodic voice, although low and unpretentious had a certain irrefutable authority about it. He did not pause nor look away from the President's face as he continued his address in perfect meter. "Now I understand your predecessor was little more than an adolescent primate in a big hat, but he also never asked any of my people to take anything more than the odd shoe for him. Appealing to Lux's irrational emotions does not endear your administration to me."

The President returned the strange man's gaze soberly. "Are you Elle?"

The young man bit into the cookie the way the President imagined a mongoose might- a calculated kill, all sharp teeth and quick eyes. He looked up, "I am L." He nodded and slid a business card with the single letter L embossed upon it.

"While I am extremely grateful to uh... Lux and your kind, L," the President started, "But the United States did not ask for the assistance of the Valkyrie today to the best of my knowledge."

L's expression didn't seem to change, but the American President could have sworn he saw a smirk playing upon it somewhere. "Do you know, Mr. President, why your country makes so much of bald eagles?" He asked coolly, motioning over to the famous oval office rug which featured the eagle on the seal of the United States of America prominently.

"It's our national bird." The president stated, eyeing the CIA director discretely for his response.

L rolled his enormous eyes. "Yes, but why, Mr. President?" His voice was silky but direct. "The forefathers of the US knew very little about the Valkyrie in the time of your nation's conception, Mr. President, but they were aware of our rather unusual appendages, such as your media noted today on Lux."

"Wings?" The President supplied, nearly breathless.

"Yes," L nodded, "Wings are, of course, only the most conspicuous gift the Shinigami imparted to us, but the founders of this country latched on to this. The eagle is a representation of those wings and therefore representation of us and the friendship your forefathers wished us to have with the so called land of the free." Here L let out a small sigh of annoyance, "While I will admit your nation is not the worst group of humans on the planet, I was not about to enter every madcap war your predecessor wished to go frolicking in to. The Valkyrie watch, Mr. President, and the Valkyrie remember. We are not so foolish as to inflict violence upon our own kind and I am not so flippant with the lives of my people." L's voice lowered to a meticulous mutter, "Honestly, it is rather remarkable any humans survive at all when you kill, starve, and turn against your own species."

Here there was a rather uncomfortable silence as the strange young man bent to take another bite.

"Now I understand that every species is prone to the occasional rogue sociopath," Here the leader seemed to turn and look rather pointedly at Lux, "But I must say nobody's killers are quite as... organized as humanity's. The world as it is now, Mr. President, is not the world as it was when I was born, and as it changes so must we adapt. Therefore, I am not going to rip the jugular vein out of your neck and dethrone you as was my first inclination when I saw one of my associates- an associate whom I might mention _should not have even been out of my sight_, let alone in another time zone, on television taking a bullet for the President of the United States. Instead, I realized there was a seven percent chance you would have a good explanation for this, Mr. President, as I am ninety-nine point three percent certain my associate does not."

At this point red fire seemed to flash in the other young man's eyes as they narrowed, blistering, at L. "I am not _your_ anything! You don't own me and you have no right to _forbid _me to go anywhere or do anything!" The youth's incredulous words were sharp and seemed to detonate from his mouth like ammunition. The President noticed L do nothing more than roll his eyes casually at this outburst. "And anyways, the American President is an innocent man as of yet! A lot of people count on him to keep them safe- what did you expect me to do?" Lux yanked one of his forearms out of the old man's grasp defiantly. "The only reason I'm here and Watari's here and you're here and everyone else is here is because I'm not doing exactly what you want right now! Well, I'm fine- everything is fine!"

L let out a tiny, barely audible sigh and sat up a little straighter. In one fluid movement he had left his perch on the desk and had ripped the fabric of Lux's jacket and shirt cleanly off the young man's chest. To the President's astonishment, the jacket had been concealing a wound surrounded by dried blood and debris on the young man's shoulder.

L gazed down at his wounded counterpart with slight distain, "You know, I think you may actually be getting worse at lying, Lux."

Lux glared back, but the Valkyr leader had already turned his attention back to the humans. "Ultimately, I do not believe you or the director, here, has an explanation for me, so I will give you one instead." L's voice remained low and matter-a-fact. He could have been discussing a grocery list. "There are many people in this world who do not wish you well, Mr. President. Of course, you know about most of these and you also know they will do nothing more than complain. There is, however, a smaller, much more dangerous group of death-wishers who will not be contented with juvenile name-calling. It is fortunate for you that the leader of this group has no love for me, as statistically you will have a significantly higher chance of survival with my help. But not if you continue to place my associates in jeopardy."

The President looked between the CIA director and the odd foreign leader before nodding slowly. "But I must disagree about the intelligence at hand. There isn't a single terrorist organization the US hasn't fingered. If there was a threat, I'm sure the director, here, is aware of it."

"Right," L smirked in his usual understated way. "The way you knew about the assassination today." He shrugged, popping the last of the cooking in to his mouth with a snap. "I would open my ears, Mr. President. I know home videos don't come with subtitles, but I'm sure Matsuda isn't nearly as useless as he looks." L nodded towards the older man, who opened one of the tall windows behind him. One by one, the Valkyrie lighted out on to the law where a large, silent black jet, nearly invisible in the night, had been parked. "We will be in touch." was the strange leader's last words before he too disappeared into the menacing air craft.

In the shocked silence that followed the foreigners' swift departure, the new President blinked, inwardly wondering what the mysterious L's warning could have possibly meant. With one long stride, he was the oval office monitor, pulling up news footage of the day's attack. "Matsuda, come here and listen to this!" He commanded.

Shaky cell phone video showed Lux, a graceful dark winged shadow in the sky, tumbling wing over wing clutching and fighting the assailant. The young man's large eyes flashed fire as he held the attacker's neck with seemingly superhuman control, as if he were a hawk clutching its prey. Some deep, guttural curse could just be heard before the Valkyrie wrenched the human's neck up and slammed it down, brutally killing the attacker.

"Wait!" Matsuda called out, grabbing for a pen and paper. "Turn it up, and play that back again!" The President did as the scholar asked, and watched as the Asian scribbled furiously. After they replayed the clip a few more times, Matsuda looked up, triumphant. He held the scratched paper up and read in a clear, careful voice, "_Vole Das Ungeziefer Les Terrisarchia dam fregzen shat._"

The CIA director blinked, "What the hell does that mean? I only recognized on part of that- '_Das Ungeziefer_'. That's German for 'The Vermin'. What was the rest?"

Matusda swallowed, "The Valkyrie uses an ancient language stemming from the Norse. I don't think Lux was speaking to the assassin directly. From what he said, it's more likely the man was wearing a wire and Lux was addressing his superior- the one who was behind the attack."

"And what exactly did Lux say?" The President prompted.

Matsuda looked tense. "He said, 'Tell the Vermin the-ones-who-inhabit-the-land are not afraid.'"

"The-ones-who-inhabit-the-land?" The CIA director growled questioningly.

"_Les Terrisarchia_ is a very old term the Valkyrie use to describe themselves." Matsuda explained quickly. "It literally translates to the-ones-who-do-not-own-but-occupy-the-territory." Matsuda looked pale. "It is a war term- a threat."

The President narrowed his eyes, "Who is '_Das Ungeziefer_'? Is there any mention of such a person in the histories, Matsuda?"

The scholar was thoughtful, "The phrase is vaguely familiar…" The Asian man's eyes suddenly lit up and he began pawing through his papers. "Yes! I remember know! About fifteen years ago a mentor of mine intercepted a message written completely in Old Valkyr except for that one German phrase."

The CIA director's grim mouth stretched into a grimace, "In what context did 'Das Ungeziefer' come up?"

Matsuda waved a photocopy triumphantly, "I found it! I'll read it to you- but I will say nobody at the department was able to find what it meant. It comes off like a fable, but my mentor thought it was an encrypted message." The young man cleared his throat and began, translating as he went along.

"_There was a warren of small animals living together in the forest. For many years a kind and wise ferret had ruled as king over the warren, but he now found himself growing old and sickly. The only living relative the King Ferret had was his younger brother, 'Das Ungeziefer'- the Rat. The King Ferret was worried about naming the Rat his successor, so he called his friend, the Badger, to ask his advice, for the Badger was the most practical and moral of all the Badger said, "Good King Ferret, do not allow your brother, the Rat, to become king after you die, for he is selfish and greedy." The King Ferret knew his friend spoke the truth. "But who should I appoint to be king after I die?" he asked. "Ask the Owl," The Badger said. "For he is the oldest and the most educated of the animals." So the King Ferret sought the Owl out in his tree. "Who should I appoint to rule over the animals when I am gone?" He asked. The Owl closed his eyes and thought for a long time. When he opened his eyes turned and said to the king, "Appoint the Blue Bat to be king after you. Although he is very young, he is the most intelligent of the animals. More importantly, dark times are coming, and only the Blue Bat can see at night." The King Ferret knew the Owl had spoken the truth and announced to the animals that the Blue Bat would inherit his throne. Soon after, the King Ferret died. Now the Rat was very angry and felt he had been cheated out of being king. He schemed to poison the Blue Bat. But the Blue Bat, being the smartest of the animals detected the traitor and banished the Rat from the warren. Even though the Rat no longer lived near him, the Badger was worried the Rat would find out it was he who caused the Blue Bat to be named king, and seek revenge. The Badger had one son, the Red Fox, who was considered to be the most beautiful of all the animals. Fearing that the Rat would harm him, the Badger sent the Red Fox far away from the warren, to grow up away from danger. And that is how the forest came to be ruled by the King Blue Bat, mortal enemy of Das Ungeziefer." _

When he was finished reading all three men stared at each other. What could it mean?


	2. Chapter 2: A Place of Fear

Although L and all of his men could sprout wings from their backs and take flight as easily as any common bird, he preferred to take the jet if he had to travel any great distance or if there was any chance of danger. Since Soichiro's son, codename Lux, had come home from school to live at the Valkyr headquarters eight months ago, L had yet to allow anyone to leave headquarters without the jet. Looking over at his newest charge now only confirmed to the ever logical leader of the inherent risk in this boy. He couldn't yet put his finger on it, but there was an unmistakable air of danger about codename Lux. It would come to him. It always did…

Watari had engineered L's jet to be both silent and smooth, a black, sleek, massive design which was both surprisingly secure and spacious. The Valkyr agents had been able to board and take off for the Pacific Ocean in mere seconds. The jet's accent was so graceful, only the pilot needed to be seated at takeoff. The rest of the crew, Watari, and Lux stood in the round main cabin, shedding jackets and equipment, preparing for the five hour flight back to headquarters. L's body was unusually well self-regulated, and he rarely had the need for a jacket. Instead he stood off to the side, leaning back on his hips in that casual, feline way he had, just thinking.

Codename Lux catalogued at the tattered remains of his shirt for the first time since L's attack, in dumb silence. All that remained of the formerly white button down oxford was the right sleeve and a few shreds across his chest- just another unexpected reminder of the odd man's unlikely strength. He wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to do. For the first time since Watari had apprehended him, Lux's adrenaline, the warrior's chemical that had spiked his body into wary numbness, was subsiding, leaving his injured shoulder throbbing with excruciating pain. Soft, moth-like fluttering moved over the hot, sensitive swollen skin around Lux's wound, and his head jerked down immediately in surprise. L, the chieftain of the species and his family, his supposed leader, was bent down on his knees, examining Lux's chest, his elegant hands tending to the wound. L's face was so close to his bare abdomen, Lux could feel a soft blush of warmth sooth over his raw skin, where L's breath hovered.

Codename Lux took an uncharacteristically clumsy step backwards. "What are you doing?" He demanded.

L looked up at the other boy, his eyes seemingly unperturbed, but his lips curled under slightly, betraying his concern. When he spoke, his usual low monotone had the smallest tinge of regret. "Your injury is more serious than I first appraised. It needs to be cleaned and cauterized or it will get infected."

Light put out a hand, instinctually warding off any more unwelcome physical contact from L. "You didn't think getting shot might be serious?" He carefully collected his face into a sneer, hoping to mask how offset L had made him suddenly feel.

L observed codename Lux's bronze eyes, not unlike two polished ancient coins, widen in an unchecked reaction of mistrust and felt an incongruous pang of guilt in his gut. He let out a small breath and softened his low tone, "I apologize, Light. I should not have left you unattended so long. I thought only of securing the incident and not of your discomfort."

"I thought people weren't allowed to call me that anymore." Light's hand didn't move.

L sighed mentally, "Only away from my protection in headquarters. As we are in my jet currently and, like headquarters, it is an extension of my protection. I know personally that my jet is one hundred percent secure." He recited this quickly, his fingers itching to return to tending Light. "Please," he said, and Light though he heard a foreign note of tension in his voice. "Allow me to take care of it."

L's voice was both authoritative yet somehow pleading, and Light found himself relaxing his body from its guarded position and allowing his chieftain to approach. L's hands were both cool and unwavering as they guided Light's body over to a bariatric cot padded with sterile medical upholstery, anchored in a cabin in the lower part of the jet. Like the rest of the jet, the chamber was dark- all black leather and chrome. Light sank down on the coat, suddenly exhausted by the events of the day and no longer in the mood for a fight, regardless of how irritated he was with L.

L's brows knitted together in concentration. He quickly and professionally removed the remainder of Light's shirt. Against the searing pain, Light felt heat rising in his body where L's hands were brushing his chest and sucked in a breath inexplicably. He allowed his amber eyes to travel away from the L's approaching face and over to the wall.

"I'm serious," L started through gritted teeth, attempting to maintain his composure. "You can't tell me where I can or can't go."

Two of L's large, long fingers trailed up Light's chest gently to his neck where they rested firmly against a vein, checking his pulse. L kept his other hand on Light's abdomen with a mild pressure, maintaining contact so his touches wouldn't shock Light's body when his patient couldn't see what his hands were doing. L found himself concentrating on being absolutely methodical. He was more deeply affected by Light's closeness and obvious pain than he'd willingly admit to himself. He mentally justified these uncomfortable feelings by reminding himself of his duty of responsibility for all the Valkyrie. L was logical to the point of coldness at times, but he did not enjoy the suffering of any of his men.

"You've been away from the Warren for a little over a third of your life now." L murmured, allowing his hand to linger on Lux's warm chest. "I can understand why you find it hard to adjust back to our customs."

Light narrowed his eyes, momentarily ignoring the pain in his agitation, "But these aren't our ways! I had much more freedom in the Warren as a child! Had I known the great L was so neurotic, I might have refused my father's bid for me to come home to headquarters."

L withdrew his fingers from Light's neck, his movement precise and careful regardless of Light's snobbery. "I know you find it hard to trust me, although I feel I have never given you a reason, but you should trust your father, Light. Soichiro and I both have legitimate reasons to be concerned about you." L resisted the strangest urge to place his hand of Light's forehead. "Even if I didn't know your history, Light, after today I'd put you on lockdown. You were gone from the Warren for not even a day and you got shot. That alone is evidence that you're exponentially more at risk than average."

Light tossed his head, glaring at the wall, "You have no right…"

L really did sigh this time. "Rights are what the humans are always babbling about. You said you saved the American president because a lot of people count on him to keep them safe. Well the Valkyr count on me to keep them safe, and you safe as well." L sounded unusually sentimental and he added very lowly, "So that's what I'm going to do. I know you spend a lot of time yearning for the freedom you had away at school, so it probably doesn't occur to you that you are important to me and important to the Valkyr."

Light swallowed in the resulting silence, completely unsure of what to say or what to think. L seemed unperturbed. Indeed, he didn't even seem to notice the silence.

After a moment he continued, "But it hasn't escaped everyone. I have people that are very close to me like Soichiro and Watari, on whom I can trust. But you probably don't realize that I have enemies- and one enemy in particular, who would willingly hurt you."

L shook his head, both confused and a little angry. "Your enemies have no beef with me, L. And I've studied just as long as you. There isn't an organization in the world that would attack the Valkyr."

L paused slightly and put his hands in his lap. To his chagrin, Light's body missed the feeling of their warmth. He almost looked up at the leader, but thought better of it.

"You've been with the humans for a long time, Light. You are starting to think like them." L abruptly broke off the sentiments and began cleaning Light's wound again. "They would hurt you because it would hurt me." He said mater-a-factly. "And anyways, if I left you on your own, how did you expect to fly home with that bullet wound?"


End file.
